The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus used in a semiconductor manufacturing process or the like, particularly, to a projection exposure apparatus for projecting and transferring the pattern of a reticle as a master onto a silicon wafer as a substrate and, more particularly, to an exposure apparatus having a linear motor for driving reticle and wafer stages for sequentially moving the reticle and silicon wafer with respect to a projection exposure system when projecting a reticle pattern onto the wafer.
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus having a linear motor for transmitting the reaction forces of reticle and wafer stages, or a damping linear motor on the mount of a main body structure, which supports each stage and a projection optical system.
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing method using the exposure apparatus noted above, and a maintenance method for the exposure apparatus.
A conventional linear motor will be described with reference to FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 20 to 22.
FIGS. 19A and 19B are schematic views showing a conventional linear motor. In FIGS. 19A and 19B, a plurality of coils 116 are aligned within an effective stroke in the driving direction of an X linear motor 109, and the lead line of each coil 116 is connected to a connector 118. A fine moving stage 107 incorporates movable magnets 119 with respect to the coils 116 serving as linear motor stationary members. By flowing a driving current through the coils 116, the fine moving stage 107 is moved in a moving direction (xc2x1X direction), indicated by the arrow by the movable magnets 119 magnetized as shown in FIG. 19B, by a Lorentz force.
The coil 116 conventionally uses a round wire coil 116a with a round section, as shown in FIG. 20. The core of the round wire coil 116a is made of a copper wire 116b, and the outer surface is coated with an insulating layer 116c made of polyimide or polyurethane.
The wound state of the round wire coil 116a is shown in FIG. 21, which is an enlarged view of a portion H shown in FIG. 19B. The coil 116 is obtained by winding the round wire coil 116a around a hollow coil into a sectional shape as shown in FIG. 21. As shown in FIG. 22, which is an enlarged view of a portion 1, the round wire coil 116a is continuously wound in alignment to form the coil 116, and the coil 116 constitutes the X linear motor 109.
The coil 116 wound with the conventional round wire coil 116a adopts the multilayered structure of the round wire, so a large gap is formed between adjacent round wire layers. The space factor of the copper wire 116b with respect to a coil section of aligned winding can only be increased to around 75%, failing to increase the current density of a driving current supplied to the coil.
As a result, the linear motor efficiency by the stationary coil and movable magnet cannot be increased for a constant volume, and the stage apparatus cannot attain higher speed and lower power consumption.
The present invention has been proposed to solve the conventional problems, and has as its object to decrease a gap in a conventional round wire coil to increase the space factor of a copper wire with respect to the coil section, thereby increasing the current density of a driving current supplied to the coil, increasing the linear motor efficiency by a stationary coil and a movable magnet for a constant volume, and ultimately, realizing higher speed and lower power consumption of a stage apparatus.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to a pattern drawn on a master surface, comprising a driving unit for moving master and substrate stages or a linear motor for generating control power for cutting off transmission of a reaction force and/or an external vibration to the exposure apparatus in driving the stages, wherein the linear motor has a coil formed by winding a foil-like conductor having an insulating layer in a multilayered structure.
The present invention having this arrangement adopts a coil formed by winding in a multilayered structure a film-like member (to be referred to as a foil coil hereinafter) made of foil-like conductor having an insulating layer. This coil can easily increase the space factor of the conductor with respect to the coil section and implement a high-efficiency linear motor.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to a pattern drawn on a master surface, comprising a driving unit for moving master and substrate stages or a linear motor for generating control power for cutting off transmission of a reaction force and/or an external vibration to the exposure apparatus in driving the stages, wherein the linear motor has a coil formed by winding a foil-like conductor in a multilayered structure via an insulating layer, and a lead line for connecting an inner or outer end of the coil to an external electrode.
At least part of the lead line is made of the foil-like conductor, which constitutes the coil. This can prevent deformation of the side surface of the coil caused by a copper wire or the like. Substantially a space corresponding to the coil thickness allows attaching the coil. This coil is constituted by winding the foil-like conductor in a multilayered structure, so that the two ends of the coil are positioned on the inner and outer circumferential surfaces. A lead line connected to the inner end is generally extracted in the outer circumferential direction of the coil. Electrical insulation between the lead line and the side surface of the coil main body can be compensated for by using an insulator for insulting the coil main body from the lead line extracted from the inner end.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to a pattern drawn on a master surface, comprising a driving unit for moving master and substrate stages or a linear motor for generating control power for cutting off transmission of a reaction force and/or an external to the exposure apparatus in driving stages, wherein the linear motor has a coil formed by winding a foil-like conductor in a multilayered structure via an insulating layer, and a relay substrate for connecting an inner or outer end of the coil to an external electrode.
The relay substrate is disposed at a predetermined portion in the inner or outer circumferential surface direction of the coil or in the side surface direction in contact with the edges of the inner and outer circumferential surfaces. The relay substrate is connected to a connection terminal between the relay substrate and an external electrode and a lead line extending from an inner or outer end, and relays them. The relay substrate is, e.g., a substrate bearing another conductor wire or conductor pattern, or a flexible substrate. The use of the relay substrate can prevent disconnection or a short circuit caused by the tangle of a lead line, a cooling solution, or the like, and can implement a compact, and simple, linear motor even when many lead lines are laid out inside a linear motor constituted by aligning a plurality of coils. Accordingly, the linear motor can be easily manufactured, attached, and maintained in an exposure apparatus limited in the installation space for members. Cost reduction can also be expected in the manufacture and operation of the apparatus.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to a pattern drawn on a master surface, comprising a driving unit for moving master and substrate stages or a linear motor for generating control power for cutting off transmission of a reaction force and/or an external vibration to the exposure apparatus in driving the stages, wherein the linear motor has a seamlessly continuous coil formed from a plurality of partial coils prepared by winding a foil-like conductor in a multilayered structure via an insulating layer so as to make current application/rotation directions coincide with each other.
In general, this coil is constituted by spacing apart or stacking a plurality of partial coils in the gap direction of a magnetic circuit. This enables a coolant to flow through a gap between the partial coils and cooling the coil from the center. Causing a coolant to flow through the center requires two partial coils. A foil-like conductor between the two different partial coils is bent spirally (xcex1 winding) or bent at a right angle twice in the same rotational direction (shift winding), thereby continuously forming the coil. In this case, the coil is preferably constituted such that the foil-like conductor is wound spirally or by bending it a plurality of number of times between the two partial coils. By continuously forming the inner circumferential surface, any lead line need not be extracted from the inner circumferential surface, and the coil can be simplified.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to a pattern drawn on a master surface, comprising a driving unit for moving master and substrate stages or a linear motor for generating a control power for cutting off transmission of a reaction force and/or an external vibration to the exposure apparatus in driving the stages, wherein the linear motor has a coil, which is formed by winding a foil-like conductor in a multilayered structure via an insulating layer and has a through hole.
The through hole is formed to supply a coolant into the multilayered portion of the coil. The through hole generally extends from the inner circumferential surface to the outer circumferential surface at an intermediate or arbitrary position on the foil-like conductor of the coil in the direction of the width. By forming a hole extending through the coil, the coolant can flow through the through hole to efficiently cool the coil. A linear motor can be easily designed, which obtains an optimal cooling efficiency while maximally maintaining the space factor of the conductor. The wall surface of the through hole is desirably insulated.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a semiconductor manufacturing method comprising the steps of installing a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses, including an exposure apparatus, in a semiconductor manufacturing factory, and manufacturing a semiconductor device by using the plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses, wherein the exposure apparatus includes a driving unit for moving master and substrate stages or a linear motor for generating control power for cutting off transmission of a reaction force and/or an external vibration to the exposure apparatus in driving the stages, and the linear motor has a coil formed by winding a foil-like conductor having an insulating layer in a multilayered structure.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a semiconductor manufacturing factory comprising a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses including an exposure apparatus, a local area network for connecting the plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses, and a gateway for allowing access to an external network outside the factory from the local area network and allowing communicating information about at least one of the plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses, wherein the exposure apparatus includes a driving unit for moving master and substrate stages or a linear motor for generating a control power for cutting off transmission of a reaction force and/or an external vibration to the exposure apparatus in driving the stages, and the linear motor has a coil formed by winding a foil-like conductor having an insulating layer in a multilayered structure.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a maintenance method for an exposure apparatus, comprising the steps of preparing a database for accumulating information about maintenance of the exposure apparatus on an external network outside a factory in which the exposure apparatus is installed, connecting the exposure apparatus to a local area network in the factory, and maintaining the exposure apparatus on the basis of information accumulated in the database by using the external network and the local area network, wherein the exposure apparatus includes a driving unit for moving master and substrate stages or a linear motor for generating control power for cutting off transmission of a reaction force and/or an external vibration to the exposure apparatus in driving the stages, and the linear motor has a coil formed by winding a foil-like conductor having an insulating layer in a multilayered structure.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.